The Tennessee Conservative Staff –
The Tennessee Supreme Court upheld a law last week that would allow the state attorney general to handle post-conviction challenges in death penalty cases instead of leaving that responsibility with local district attorneys.
The law was originally passed in 2023 but was ruled unconstitutional by the trial court after Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy and death row inmate Larry McKay filed motions against allowing the attorney general to be involved in death penalty cases.
However, the Tennessee Court of Appeals went on to uphold the law in October 2024.
State Senator Brent Taylor (R-Memphis-District 31), the law’s sponsor, previously stated on social media that the law will allow the Attorney General’s office to represent the state in such cases and will help prevent “progressive DAs” from being able to let criminals off the hook too easily.
“This is a trend we are seeing from Restorative Justice Schemers and progressive DAs around the country,” said Taylor. “Outside groups come in to argue a convicted criminal should be let out of his sentence, and rather than argue on behalf of law-abiding citizens that the sentence should stand, these progressive DAs simply acquiesce and don’t push back. It’s a page out of the same progressive DA playbook, but as long as I’m representing you in the Senate, I’m not letting that happen in Tennessee!”
According to Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, those post-conviction challenges will now remain within his office.
Mulroy noted in a statement to The Tennessean that, while he respected the state Supreme Court’s decision, he did not agree with it.
“Both the TN constitution and common sense say that the most important decisions a prosecutor makes, literally life and death, should be made by a local elected official locally, not an unelected official half a state away,” Mulroy said.
